Ex-Police Reporter Runs Homicide Watch Blog In D.C.

Laura Norton Amico, 29, a former police reporter from Santa Rosa, Ca., has carved out a role for herself as Washington, D.C.'s most comprehensive chronicler of the unlawful taking of human life, reports the Washington Post. Since October, she has documented her efforts on a blog called Homicide Watch D.C. Her mission sounds simple: “Mark every death. Remember every victim. Follow every case.” It was inspired in part by what she sees as the limitations of traditional crime coverage. “I find it frustrating when I know there is a case, and all I see is the police department's rewritten press release, when cases aren't followed through, when there is no closure,” said Amico, who puts in 10-hour days, seven days a week on the site and makes no money from the venture.

On Homicide Watch D.C., the story of every slaying is told by marking the location using Google Maps; linking to obituaries, Tweets and Facebook tribute pages; posting copies of suspects' charging documents; and letting friends and families of the victims and defendants vent in the comments section. Amico said she was inspired partly by the site Who Murdered Robert Wone, created by four men to offer “subatomic” coverage of the unsolved killing of Wone, a lawyer for Radio Free Asia who was killed under mysterious circumstances in the home of a college friend in 2006.

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Homicide Watch D.C., what the Washington Post calls “a much-praised combination of true crime blog, case log, document dump and victim memorial,” is closing tomorrow after chronicling hundreds of murders over the past four years. Everyone from Washington, D.C., Police Chief Cathy Lanier to victims' family members is lamenting the site's demise.

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